Cloud computing or networked computing is a type of computing that provides shared computer processing resources and data to computers and other devices on demand. Cloud computing implementations can enable ubiquitous, on-demand access to a pool of shared computing resources (e.g., computer networks, servers, virtualized servers, storage, application services, etc.), which can be rapidly provisioned. The computing resources can be connected by public networks and or private networks to create the pool of shared computing resources. When applications are run, computing resources can be allocated from the pool of shared computing resources and connected to a user as needed.
Cloud monitoring is the process of evaluating, monitoring, and managing cloud-based services, applications, and infrastructure. Cloud monitoring may be accomplished using a set of tools that supervise the servers, resources, and applications running the applications. Companies can, for example, utilize various application monitoring tools to monitor cloud-based applications. The set of tools may include tools (e.g., performance monitoring tools) that are provided by the cloud provider and or third parties.
An aspect of cloud infrastructure monitoring involves monitoring servers that may be flexibly deployed in the cloud infrastructure to support the cloud-based services. Different servers do different jobs, from serving email and video to protecting internal networks and hosting Web sites, etc. A server “type” may refer to the type of job the server is configured to perform. Server classification refers to identification of server type. In highly dynamic environments and particularly cloud environments, the ability to detect server types may be a key part of the monitoring process. Server classification (i.e., identification of server type) determines monitoring policies as specific server types require specific monitoring in terms of dynamic groupings, cluster membership identification, entities to be monitored, and their acceptable thresholds as well as other key elements of monitoring policies. Without accurate server classification, the monitoring policies can be general and less effective. However, traditional methods of server classification, which are slow to run and time consuming, are often unable to keep up with the rate of change of server configurations and reconfigurations in cloud environments.
Consideration is now being given to cloud infrastructure monitoring. Attention is given, in particular, to accuracy of server classification in cloud computing and other dynamic computing environments.